Sporting KC signs center back Robert Castellanos
Sporting Kansas City have signed 24-year-old central defender Robert Castellanos, the club announced today. Castellanos has signed an MLS contract for the 2023 season with option years in 2024 and 2025.
Castellanos has played 70 club games since turning professional in 2017, including USL championships with LA Galaxy II (2017), Rio Grande Valley FC (2018–2020) and the Tampa Bay Rowdies (2022), and the 2021 MLS season with Nashville SC spent . After a short stint with KuPS in Finland’s top division, he comes to Kansas City.
A native of Palmdale, California, Castellanos developed in his youth with Nomads SC in San Diego before joining the academy of Liga MX club Atlas in 2016. He started his pro career in early 2017 and signed for LA Galaxy II as an 18-year-old and started 15 of 16 appearances in his first USL championship season. Castellanos spent the next three years with RGVFC in Edinburgh, Texas, where he played 37 games (30 starts) and scored two goals.
Castellanos advanced from the USL championship to the MLS by signing for Nashville in February 2021. In his only appearance for the club, Castellanos equalized and went the full 90 minutes in a 1-1 regular-season draw against Toronto FC.
Nashville loaned Castellanos to the Tampa Bay Rowdies for the 2022 USL championship season. He played 13 games all year, including starts in all three playoff games as the Rowdies reached the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to Louisville City FC in overtime.
Castellanos ventured abroad last month by joining KuPS, where he started in three Finnish League Cup games before leaving the club. He returns to MLS as a former US youth international after playing twice for the US U-20 men’s national team in 2016.
Sporting Kansas City kicks off the 2023 MLS season on February 25 with a visit to the Portland Timbers, the earliest start of a regular season in club history. The season opener will be broadcast live on MLS Season Pass, a new subscription service from Apple and MLS that will stream every regular season, Audi MLS Cup Playoffs and Leagues Cup game with no blackouts.
Sporting Kansas City’s home game schedule begins March 11 against the LA Galaxy at Children’s Mercy Park. Season tickets are available by calling 888-4KC-GOAL or at SportingKC.com. Additional ticket packages and promotions are available, as well as single match tickets for the club’s first eight home games of the regular season.
Transaction: Sporting Kansas City (MLS) have signed defender Robert Castellanos to a one-year MLS contract for 2023 with options for 2024 and 2025.
Robert Castellanos (CASS-tee-YAH-nos)
Position: defender
Number: 19
Born: 05/11/1998 (24 years old)
Height: 6-1
Weight: 190 pounds.
Hometown: Palmdale, California
Place of Birth: Palmdale, California
Citizenship: United States
Twitter: @rc4official
Instagram: @caste4